So what happened to Hawks' Group?

Pretty much what was to be expected. They'd fought their way to the core of the base and then had legion after legion of ninja surround them, with every imaginable kind of weapon, and just hammered them for what felt like hours.

Nothing really notable happened in this time, other than fighting for their lives and waiting for the others to show up or give them some signal they'd found their hostage friends.

But neither of those things happened.

After a while, Kurogiri scattered them to different parts of the center, and they had to fight their way to try to regroup, which was how Bakugo and Shoto went missing.

Then they returned with Wally, to everyone's relief, but no sign of Shine or the Searching Group.

"We're really not doing so well," Hawks said, as they all hid behind some of the broken desks and other equipment that had gotten wrecked by all the fighting, "We've lost the entire LOV part of our group. I think they might have ditched us on purpose."

"Even they wouldn't do that..." Momo was breathing hard. "I don't think."

"Are you okay?" Shoto asked her.

Momo's hands were shaking. "I've made so many things...I think I'm at my limit, without rest and food..." She shook her head. "One of the ninjas cut my pack off earlier. Either they missed me, or they wanted to cut off my supplies."

"Kayla is gone too," Hawks said, "It's just been Creati and me for a while, till you guys found us. Compress vanished ages ago. Spinner got lost, I think... This is a total wash."

"We can't think like that." Wally rubbed his head.

"Says the guy currently down his power." Hawks was short tempered because he was despairing of getting out of here alive.

"It felt like we had more people," Shoto said, "but Mr. Aizawa and Miss Joke haven't found us yet. They were supposed to be our backup."

"I'd say the plan has officially failed," Hawks said.

"Camie and Twice are still guarding the entrance, then, right?" Bakugo said.

"Our comlinks don't work in all this concrete and dirt, so I have no freaking clue." Hawks was short.

"And no Monama or Medea either..." Momo said, "Why did they leave you?"

"Who the frick knows? Probably to find her stupid brother," Bakugo said.

"Surely she wouldn't be that dumb," Todoroki objected yet again.

Bakugo rolled his eyes. "It doesn't matter. The five of us are on our own."

More ninja came into the room.

"And we're toast." Hawks used his feathers to pin them down. "The elites we fought weren't that strong, but they're bound to send in someone who can compete with us, once we're exhausted. Their sheer numbers are a huge advantage. There must have been thousands of them down here."

"Where's that crazy girl?" Bakugo wondered, "I can't stand her, but I'd even say she'd be better than nothing right now."

"That's a sad day when you have to say that," Wally said, "but I'd freaking take Midnight's help over this."

He ducked a knife. "It's so different without my speed."

"Perhaps I can try to remove it," Momo said, "It takes some magnetic thing, right...? But Kayla is the one who knew how to use that..."

"I think we're screwed..." Hawks said.

"You can't say that," Wally said, "They're kids, man."

"I normally wouldn't say it, but this was a bad idea before, and it's a worse idea with all these people missing, and I feel like we all should just make peace with the situation. It's pretty hopeless," Hawks said.

"You know, man, I feel like this is you having bigger issues," Wally said, "It's not hopeless yet. We could still pray for a miracle."

"We've already had one or two," Momo said, "Maybe a third isn't so much to ask for."

"A literal miracle?" Hawks scoffed, "I don't know, you want to maybe cause another lightning strike? 'Cause down here that would be bad. Or how about an earthquake? Or how about--?"

All the lights went out.

"How about that?" Wally was ever the wise cracker.

"That's...not a miracle." Hawks sounded salty. "Now we're blind."

"But so are they," Shoto said.

It was true. The barrage of weapon shots they were all ducking suddenly stopped.

There were muffled sounds of ninja asking each other what happened and pulling out their flashlights.

Hawks had much less trouble finding them with his feathers in the dark, despite what he'd said, and he slammed most of them out of the room.

They now had a bit of breathing room at least. Momo was able to catch her breath.

"They're bound to have a backup generator," Hawks said.

"What is with this pessimism?" Wally asked lightly.

"Your fiancée is in the hands of a certifiable psychopath, and half our group is lost," Hawks said, "The way I see it, we've failed to save them... I guess I should have expected this kind of karma, but I really don't see why you're complaining that I'm a pessimist. Perhaps I'm bad luck for this mission... Everything I do seems to go wrong."

That would make him the second bird winged man Wally had met who would say that.

"Oh, shut up," Bakugo said, "We're all in this. Stop making it about your insecurities."

Hawks used a feather to smack him.

Wally shook his head. "I'm worried about Shine though...but we can't give up. How can we use this to get out of here?"

Momo sighed. "I've been resting a bit. I made some night vision goggles.... Took the last of it out of me, I think, but with these we can see better than them. One of us can lead the others out of here."

"That's some first rate thinking, Peaches," Wally approved.

Shoto picked Momo up onto his back. "Who wants to lead?"

"I can sense my way around pretty well without seeing," Hawks admitted, "as long as I don't try to fly too high. I used to train blindfolded."

"I'll lead," Bakugo said, "I'm fast enough if we run into trouble."

"Okay, but we're going to have to hold hands or tie ourselves together," Wally hissed.

Momo had no energy to make rope, so they awkwardly just grabbed the edge of each other's clothes. Hawks stayed right overhead instead.

They all followed Bakugo, who saw the ninja scrambling around. Some of them seemed to be texting for back up. They probably would get night vision goggles of their own soon--they had to have them--but at least they didn't seem to be in this room, which had had a lot of filing cabinets... Apparently the ninja kept analog records as well as digital ones, probably so that what happened to the Metas would not happen to them.

They made their way around them. Bakugo slammed a few aside without using his quirk when they go too close, and Hawks was able to ward them off.

Most weren't even trying to fight them right now. They were trying to regroup outside of this area.

The blackout had bought them maybe 10 or 20 minutes of time to do pretty much whatever they wanted.

It was still a maze down there though.

It was unlikely they'd have found their way out at all if Spinner hadn't found them again by following the reports of the black out on the ninja's app and with Kitsune's keen hearing. She apparently had the ability of a fox to some extent, even if it wasn't her quirk.

While they were running, Kitsune had basically talked most of the time when they weren't sneaking, and her sentences were surprisingly coherent considering how beat up she was. Spinner now knew all about why she'd become a hero--she was a huge fan of other heroes with animal quirks and wanted to prove she could be tough even if she was a small fox--and he knew that she hated the dark, and that she was single.
Why she'd mentioned the last at all he had no clue.

Spinner hadn't had much to say in response, being both socially awkward and out of breath from running, climbing over walls, and carrying a person while he was doing it, but Kitsune was not one of those people who needs much of a response to keep talking.

Well, in a way, her chatter was good because he couldn't overthink things so easily while she was babbling on, but other than that, he didn't think much of it.
But the time did pass quickly till they had stumbled almost headlong into Bakugo. Luckily, Bakugo could see them and didn't attack.

"Where were you?" Hawks asked.

"I got a little sidetracked," Spinner said, not wanting to say he was lost, "but I totally busted up some ninja single-handedly, and I rescued a bunch of prisoners."

Silence.

"Sure you did." Hawks didn't remember much about Spinner, but he did remember he was kind of a wimp. "Yeah, we just took out, like, the whole base ourselves." Sarcastically.

"Good for you, man," Wally said, "but did you see Shine at all?"

"Or anyone else," Shoto added.

"I saw other prisoners, but no one I knew," Spinner said.

"Who's the chick?" Bakugo asked.

"I'm a vixen, actually," Kitsune said, "I own it. Nice to meet you. Hero name's Aesop."

"What? You found another hero?" Bakugo said.

"She's a sidekick, actually." Spinner had forgotten how weird bringing a hero with him was going to seem, even to other heroes.

"You...rescued a hero?" Hawks said blankly, "But you hate heroes."

"Oh...right." Spinner remembered now. "Well, uh, it wasn't really about that. The ninja were being these big bullies."

"Try scum sucking, sadistic retards," Kitsune said, shocking the kids with her language, "Worst bunch of a--h---s I ever saw. But Spinner here scared the s--- out of them. I took a few swings too. Then we made like a banana and split."

"Right..." Hawks said blankly.

Kitsune pointed the flashlight at him. "Hey...you're Hawks! The No--"

Hawk used a feather to stop her from talking. "Shh. Do you want the whole army down here to hear you?"

"Sorry," she said, muffled, "Just surprised..."

"I've never heard of a hero or sidekick named Aesop, and I know everyone in the higher ranks," Hawks mused.

"So she's not in the higher ranks," Shoto said.

"Watch it," Kitsune said. She flashed the light at him. "Hey...I know you too.You're Endeavor's kid. Wow, sorry about that scandal."

"You found a sidekick with even less of a filter than a villain," Hawks told Spinner.

"But she's useful. She can make people stupider," Spinner said.

"Can she?" Wally said, "How do you know if works on you?"

"I told you it's making them more gullible, not stupid. It's not the same thing," Kitsune said, "A smart person can still be gullible. No one ever freaking listens to me!"

"I'm...sure we can use that..." Momo said weakly, "I'm Creati, by the way. Hero in training."

"Ground Zero," Bakugo introduced himself, "Top Hero student."

"Momo is higher up than you," Shoto said, "isn't she?"

"Not in every category, jackass. Shut up," Bakugo said.

"Cool, I'm a rookie," Kitsune said, "also severely beat up and possibly slightly concussed, so if I don't remember any of your names later, don't take it personal."

"I like you already," Wally said, "Did you see any of our friends, by any chance?"

"Only person I saw was Spinner," Kitsune said.

"This looks like a time to make our grand entrance," Compress's voice suddenly caught everyone else off guard.

They turned towards it.

Bakugo saw Compress, Silk, Shigaraki, and Mirko standing in the hallway.

"I heard a familiar voice," Compress said.

"It's them," Mirko said grumpily, "and West is here."

"Well, that's a relief. One down," Compress said.

"Where's Shine?" Bakugo demanded, "Weren't you idiots looking for her?"

Dead silence.

"Why don't you ask Shigaraki?" Mirko said savagely.

Shigaraki ignored her tone. "Miss Likstar has regrettably sacrificed herself for her friends yet again."

"WHAT?!!" Wally and the kids all cried in horror.

"Not to worry, she's not dead," Compress hastened to correct Shigaraki's error, "She's just not going to be in a good place right now. But he said specifically she was wanted alive, along with Mr. West here, so we have a chance to find her again, provided he has not just taken her out of the base."

"Who has?" Shoto asked.

"Commander Hantai," Silk spoke.

Now everyone other than Bakugo also knew she was there.

"Is that--? You traitor!" Shoto got mad.

"Russian Lady?" Wally questioned.

Hawks shot feathers at her, pinning her to the hall behind them. "You better have a d--- good reason for why she's here."

"Funny, they said almost the same thing," Compress said, "Well, she's my spoil of war, first of all, and second, she's helping us find you. Here's a better question: Where is our dear Medea and her new beau?"

"They went off alone," Shoto said.

"Again?!" Mirko said angrily, "When? How? Who wasn't watching them?"

"We were a little preoccupied." Shoto was short with her. "And we're not in charge of them... Bakugo thinks they went to find--"

"Lethe," Silk spoke, "Medea would never pass that up, if my assessment of her was correct."

"You don't talk about her," Mirko grumbled.

"That is serious." Compress did sound actually concerned. "That's a lot of people to be missing still...but you're all alive, so that's more than we thought. You were pinned down last we knew."

"We were, but then the lights went out and we got away," Hawks said.

"If it was Kaminari, we owe him for this," Momo said.

"Yeah, Dunce Face comes through when you need him," Bakugo said what he would a not have said to his face, "But if he pulled this, he's gone dumb again, and who knows when they'll find us? If all of you losers are here, we gotta get moving."

Silk flashed her phone to see them. "Who is new girl?"

"This is Kitsune...or Aesop," Spinner said, "I rescued her from a pack of rabid ninja."

"I don't believe you," Compress said.

"I can't believe you," Mirko rolled her eyes.

"I don't care," Silk said, "Is she on our side is what matter."

"I'm on whatever side is sticking it to these SOB's," Kitsune spoke weakly, "but I'm not gonna be much for a fight..."

"Hero or villain?" Shigaraki asked.

Spinner backed up a little with her. "Does it really matter?" he asked warily.

Shigaraki considered it. "Not at the moment. Later it might."

"We'll talk about it later, then," Wally urged, "When did Shine go missing? Come on, I have to know."

They briefly told him what happened, and the others filled them in on what they'd seen too.

They moved slowly throughout this time, but didn't dare to stay in one place too long.

If they hadn't lost all sense of direction, Bakugo believed they were heading back towards the entrance, but at a zig-zagging pattern that probably would take too long if they didn't get back on track.

Finally, about 15 minutes after their rendezvous, the back up generator kicked in, and dim, red lights flickered on. Even then, it was only every other light. The generator directed most of the power into other areas of the facility.

Now that they all could see, Shigaraki said that it was concerning that Medea and Monama were still not back.

"What do we do about it?" Compress asked, "Split up again?"

Shigaraki didn't seem to be in the same communicative frame of mind he'd been in when this mission started, so he said nothing.

"We can't afford to do that," Hawks said, "I mean, we'll never find them... I could send my feathers out though. Maybe I can get them out of here...but then, if I just phased right through them it wouldn't be much good."

"And Kurogiri?" Spinner asked, "Are we going to find him too?"

"We'd be lucky to find who we came in here for," Hawks argued, "We can't add anyone else to it."

"But we came in here for Kurogiri," Spinner said, "And Toga, she's lost too."

"Toga could probably walk around here totally free," Hawks said, "No telling how may people she's killed by now if she was left on her own, but getting out should be easy for her. The only reason she's not here is she didn't want to be. Get real."

That did seem likely to be true.

"Not to interrupt," Kitsune suddenly spoke, "but that scary guy with the scars? He just left so..."

Everyone realized that Shigaraki had left pretty much as soon as they'd stopped looking at him.

"What?" Mirko said in disbelief, "Why would he just go off...?"

"He going to find Medea," Silk said, "Shigaraki will always make sure whole League get out. Is his most predictable quality. Perhaps also best quality, if you think about it. But stupid. That is how Commander will trap him. I know he thought it would work, luring you all in here with hostages...because it always does. You people never leave anyone behind."

"We're heroes," Shoto said.

"LOV doesn't either," Silk said, "Put itself at mercy of whole Meta army to get one skinflint dealer, who not even full member. Is clear enough what your weaknesses are. Why kill you when Hantai can bait hook and reel even more of you in by keeping prisoner alive? It never fails... Only, DJs always ruin plan...but now they are incapacitated...he is not likely to fail."

"You're always so cheerful," Wally said flatly, "Look, we're not that easy to kill, but even if we are down, you guys aren't helpless or stupid. You can do this too. I believe in you."

Momo rubbed her chin while leaning on Shoto's back. "I...we need to think... Hantai always finds us again, from what you've told us...so he probably is tracking us now... We know he'll attack...but now then...as long as he lets us buy time, we should try to find a place that renders us the most advantaged and him the least, which in his own base will be hard, but think--he's sure to have some elites ready to fight us and weapons and traps...so what's the best place to fight him?"

"In these freaking hallways is the place. He's gonna have the least room to get us," Bakugo said.

"Ah, but there may be traps here too," Compress said.

"Likely," Silk said, "at least by exit."

"So...then where?" Shoto asked.

Silk thought. "Main meeting room has lot of traps, I think. He wouldn't be caught off guard in his own habitat like that... Civilian area has too many potential causalities for us to use, and procession area will have too many guards around it. Prison area is confined, and gym have lot of weapons for them... I see no real advantage to us at all."

"This is where Shine always pulls something random out of thin air," Momo said, "something obvious that we could think of..."

"True," Wally said, "but she's not here..." He looked own. "Still, we gotta try... I mean, what's totally outside the box?"

"If we could blow the roof off the d--- place we could take the fight outside, and that's what would be unexpected," Bakugo said.

Everyone looked up.

"You bring down 10 tons of concrete and dirt on us if you try that," Silk said, "If you not have force-field or shield or something, is suicide to try."

"So we need a way to prevent that," Wally said.

"Shine could," Shoto said, "but maybe ice..."

"Ice would crack," Bakugo said.

"Enough ice might not."

"Ain't enough room for that much," Bakugo insisted.

This argument was going to continue for a while, the others thought.

Mirko tapped her foot impatiently and looked around. Shigaraki had yet to appear.

Moron...

* * *

Aizawa and Miss Joke brought Shine through the dark and talked on the way.

Shine had remembered a lot more about Miss Joke, and she'd started to remember a bit about Aizawa through that...but nothing about UA still.

She also was more tired than ever. Aizawa had to carry her, which was quite a feat as she was about as tall or even taller than him, though not as heavy.

"You know, you're not as grumpy when you're helping," Shine mumbled, "So...we've accomplished all this...and you're still not sure if we're crazy or not."

"Eraser isn't sure if you're crazy. I rooted for you from the beginning," Miss Joke said.

"Okay, but if we got heroes and villains to work together, I just don't get why we're here," Shine said, "Normally that'd be the end of the mission."

"I think you're after something more permanent," Miss Joke said, "You've never really said though."

"You have a guess?" Aizawa tried.

"If I haven't told you, I'm sure I had a reason." Shine wasn't falling for that. Her eyes glinted gold.

"There!" Miss Joke stopped. "Your power just showed itself for the first time since we found you... Maybe you're recovering."

"You've been so nice," Shine said, softly, "I think it's lifting me up...even if physically I'm still trashed... Encouragement always strengthens our spirit."

"Definitely sounds like her." Aizawa was wry.

"Really, Eraser, you look adorable." Miss Joke surveyed them. The lights had come back on for them just a few minutes prior. "Like a parent at Disney World. You should take Eri there sometime."

"I think I remember Eri a bit," Shine said, "She's a cute, little girl with a horn, right?"

"Yes."

"Yay," Shine sighed in relief, "Good to know."

"We should stop talking. Now that they can see, they'll be looking for us again," Aizawa said warningly.

"Sure, I'll just go to sleep," Shine said dryly.

"Can you carry me next? I'm tired too," Miss Joke teased Aizawa, who gave her side-eye.

* * *

Medea, Monama, and Lethe were edging their way towards the others...at least Lethe thought they were probably that way.

Shigaraki really had no idea how to find them. He just thought dimly that Medea would be easy to spot, being purple fire and all.

Why he felt like this was a good idea, he didn't really question.

He'd been feeling on edge ever since...well...ever since Mirko blew up at him, like he wanted to destroy something, or at least that's what he thought the feeling was.

Someone else might have called it a mixture of guilt and hurt feelings at being accused over something that really was not his fault, but naturally, he didn't recognize it as such.

He always went inward in his mind at times like this...

With the lights back on, the ninja hunt was back on, and soon enough, some heavily armed members of the cult stumbled into the same hallway as him.

Shigaraki took almost no notice of them except to dodge their shurinken. Then they ran forward, knives out. Still no guns. It seemed only a select number of ninja had guns... Maybe it was a leveling up thing; higher trained ones used them.

They got close.

Shigaraki deftly reached out and grabbed their wrists as they were about to stab him...and they turned to dust.

Whether he meant to kill them or just to stop their weapons, he didn't really know, but he didn't stop to deliberate over it. He just kept going.

Likstar wouldn't like killing, the others had said.

Likstar was gone...and it was because of them...and with her, Kurogiri too...

AFO would say destroying them was only what they brought on themselves--they should not have taken people that weren't theirs...

Shigaraki smirked bitterly to himself. These things always ended the same way, didn't they? He knew that... Because people would always try to stop him out of fear, that was why...

Or just hatred. The Originals hated him, even though he never did anything to them directly...Hantai was using Shine as bait, just to get to him and the League...so what did it matter?

The heroes always hated him, too... His father hated him... Maybe they all could just see what he was sooner than he had... That must be it... People hated what they feared...

[He's right about that, but that hurt me to write...]

[Image by Onerose, original template by original creator]

* * *

"If you're going to keep looking for him, why don't you just go look?" Silk said to Mirko in a low voice only she would have heard, while the others still argued over their plan.

"What? I'm not looking for anyone," Mirko said.

"Sure," Silk said flatly, "Stupid Pro, always pretending you have no heart just so you look tough, like image of hero to society... When you get it through thick skull that is no one here to impress?"

"When you stop butting into my business," Mirko shot back.

"I wonder how many people he'll kill," Silk said, as if changing the subject, "After your little speech, it not shock me if he prove you right... Make them suffer for what they do, huh? I understand, really. The Originals surely have put you all through a lot. I don't actually like making people suffer, though I will for worthy cause."

"Shut up," Mirko growled.

"You can keep denying that you grow a conscience," Silk said, "Maybe you deny it long enough, you will come to forget it yourself. I think is what Heroes generally do, you callous pricks...and then destruction that happens because of your carelessness is not your fault, right? Just know, if your harshness caused a temperamental episode in one of us, is still partly your fault."

"It's not," Mirko denied it.

Silk just gave her a contemptuous look and moved away.

Like she had the right to lecture Mirko!

The last time Shigaraki had gone crazy... Come to think of it, she really had never witnessed it...

Guy was actually pretty calm most of the time, all things considered.

A little too late, Mirko suddenly remembered his backstory and the time he'd nearly attacked her while in a flashback...

But...she...surely she wouldn't have...started something?

A horrible feeling gripped her as she pictured what that might look like...

Suddenly she darted down the hall into the base...

"A secret side of me I never let you see. I keep it caged, but I can't control it.
So stay away from me. The beast is ugly. I feel the rage, and I just can't hold it.

It's scratching on the walls in the closet in the halls. It comes awake, and I can't control it.

Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head. Why won't somebody come and save me from this, make it end!?

(I feel it deep within. It's just beneath my skin. I must confess that I feel like a monster.

I hate what I've become. The nightmare's just begun. I must confess that I feel like a monster!

A secret side of me, hid under lock and key, I keep it caged, but I can't control it.

'Cause if I let 'em out, he'll tear me up, break me down! Why won't somebody come and save me from this? Make it end!

(Chorus)

It's hiding in the dark. Its teeth are razor sharp. There's no escape for me. It wants my soul. It wants my heart.
No one can hear me scream. Maybe it's just a dream. Maybe it's inside of me. STOP THIS MONSTER.

(Chorus)

I've got to lose control. Here's something radical!

I must confess that I feel like a monster!"